The Turnaround

Momoshiro stood at the baseline, tossing the ball high into the air. He swung his racket-holding arm with force, unleashing his signature Bullet Serve.

Kisarazu Jun of St. Rudolph felt the powerful force on the tennis ball as he received it. Frowning slightly, he hit the ball back with all his might.

Seeing the trajectory of the return, Kaitou immediately moved sideways for a net interception. Yanagisawa Shinya, another player from St. Rudolph, reacted quickly.

Noticing Kaitou's empty backcourt, he hit a lob to the back of the court.

"Hey, bandana-guy, your defense is too open."

As soon as Yanagisawa finished speaking, a dark shadow darted out from behind Kaitou.

Before he could even tell Kisarazu to retreat and defend, Momoshiro jumped up and hit a Vertical Smash.

The two players from St. Rudolph were clearly startled by Momoshiro's sudden Vertical Smash. They also hadn't expected Momoshiro and Kaitou's teamwork to be so good, especially since they were arguing before the match.

But their coolness lasted less than three seconds. Before Kisarazu and Yanagisawa could recover from their shock, Momoshiro and Kaitou's bickering pulled them back to reality.

"Your smash was too shallow. Hitting it so close, did you want it to be returned?"

"You too. Since you're guarding the net, you should defend properly."

"Damn it... What did you say?"

"You bastard!"

Watching the two start arguing again, the Seigaku members off the court felt helpless.

Thinking about the two of them in their first year, they were already used to it.

"Seigaku scores, the score is 1:0."

Momoshiro and Kaitou quickly won a point. The St. Rudolph doubles pair, unable to find any weaknesses, was also frustrated. However, what hadn't changed was that the two were still arguing.

Finally, even the referee couldn't stand it anymore and stopped the two, allowing the match to continue.

The two who were reprimanded by the referee were clearly unhappy, so they took out their anger on St. Rudolph.

Bang...

"St. Rudolph scores, the score is 1:1."

Bang...

"Seigaku scores, the score is 2:1."

With a smash from Momoshiro, Seigaku scored another point.

The match continued, with both sides exchanging shots.

Suddenly, as Yanagisawa prepared to return the ball, he changed his swing and hit a Drop Shot.

The ball landed towards Kaitou's backhand. Seeing this, both Momoshiro and Kaitou raised an eyebrow.

"Is it a coincidence... But that's definitely a shot Kaitou dislikes..."

Kaitou managed to hit the ball back, but the original Drop Shot turned into a lob. Momoshiro at the baseline saw Kisarazu preparing to smash.

He immediately told Kaitou to retreat to the backcourt and went to defend the net himself.

Seeing this change, Kisarazu immediately twisted his body and turned the smash into a Drop Shot. Momoshiro had to quicken his pace at the net.

Meanwhile, Yanagisawa moved directly in front of Momoshiro to prevent him from defending head-on. Momoshiro was forced to hit the ball in the opposite direction.

However, the ball's trajectory seemed to have been predicted. As soon as it landed, Kisarazu appeared on its path. By the time Momoshiro realized it, it was too late.

Kisarazu aimed for Momoshiro's defensive gap and directly hit the ball to score.

In the following few rallies, the two St. Rudolph players seemed to specifically target Momoshiro and Kaitou's weaknesses, making them feel frustrated.

"Momoshiro-senpai can't hit any straight or high balls, and Kaitou-senpai has trouble with front-to-back movement."

Horio watched the two on the court and said leisurely, then raised his voice.

"You guys were so in sync when you were arguing, how can you be toyed with like this when you play?"

Hearing Horio's words, the two surprisingly calmed down. During the break, Yanagisawa even came out to provoke them.

"Our manager said she has already gathered your information and predicted we would win 6:2. You've already scored two points, does that mean you've already lost?"

The silent two stared at the provoking Yanagisawa, their fighting spirit growing more apparent in their eyes.

"You guys from St. Rudolph, you can't predict tennis. Just wait and see if you lose."

The two returned to the court, their state restored, ready to receive the serve.

However, the referee called a halt to the match. They saw Mizuki enter the court with a mop.

It turned out Mizuki felt the court was a bit dirty and asked the referee for permission to clean it.

"Damn it, St. Rudolph's manager is really not simple. Momoshiro and the others finally got into their rhythm, and he just interrupted them like this."

"Yeah, they finally managed to reignite their fighting spirit..."

Oishi was very angry at Mizuki's actions, and Kikumaru beside him couldn't help but worry.

"Don't worry, senpai, fighting spirit isn't something that can be broken just because someone says so."

Horio's lips curved slightly upwards, not a trace of worry on his face.

Because St. Rudolph had already lost, two people who hated to lose getting serious wasn't simple at all.

"Hey, why are you messing things up?"

"Heh, sorry. The match was too intense, and the court got dirty. See? A quick sweep like this makes it much better."

"Well, thank you very much. Since you're done sweeping, you can leave now."

Mizuki then took the broom back to the coach's bench. After a small interlude, the match resumed.

"The score is 5:2, St. Rudolph leads. Yanagisawa of St. Rudolph is serving."

Yanagisawa hit a normal serve, and the doubles pair on both sides began a back-and-forth tug-of-war.

St. Rudolph deliberately hit the ball to positions Momoshiro and Kaitou were weak at, while Momoshiro and Kaitou's strength forced Yanagisawa and Kigitsu to barely hold on.

This situation continued for a long time. Feeling uncomfortable with the ball's trajectory, Momoshiro and Kaitou slowly got angry.

"Heh, data. Does anyone in this world really play entirely according to data? Mizuki, Mizuki, the method you think guarantees victory is actually the knife that will bury St. Rudolph."

Horio, watching from the sidelines as Momoshiro and Kaitou were about to lose their temper, muttered to himself. The people around him also felt his words made sense.

"I'm not watching anymore. Katsuro, Katsuo, I'm going to buy drinks. Are you guys coming?"

"Huh? Horio, you're not watching? But it's not over yet. There are still matches after this. What if we miss them?"

"Momoshiro-senpai and the others won't lose like this. As for Oishi-senpai and the others... the weather is getting hotter, which will be a challenge for Kikumaru-senpai. But buying drinks won't take too long."

"Then... okay. I hope we can get back before Momoshiro-senpai and the others finish."

Thus, Horio, who already had a plan in mind, took his two good friends to buy drinks. On the court, Momoshiro and Kaitou were playing more and more energetically.

"It's still not enough. The match has just begun. Hey, Kaitou, are you really not going to use the Snake Shot?"

"None of your business. Mind your own."

"Every time you prepare to use the Snake Shot, those two make a move. It looks like they've practiced for a long time. Aren't you afraid the Snake Shot will be returned?"

"Shut up..."

Then, Kaitou seemed to make a decision and walked towards the backcourt.

Seeing Kaitou move to the backcourt, Momoshiro understood, and a two-backcourt formation appeared